New Augmented Reality App Being Developed for the American Battlefield Trust

The American Battlefield Trust, Lumina Datamatics, and Interactive Knowledge are creating an augmented reality (AR) experience for mobile and tablet devices to be used by visitors to the Gettysburg battlefield. The AR app will offer a wide variety of 3D animations and stills that are based on archival photographs of the Gettysburg battle and its aftermath. Visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park will be able to use the app to experience life-like interactions with historic individuals who were at Gettysburg during the Civil War at the exact locations where they stood. The app will include up to eight AR experiences in eight different locations. The experience will be triggered when the visitor arrives at the designated spot in the Park. The AR app will offer map-based navigation that will lead visitors to unique and often underutilized locations within the Gettysburg National Military Park.

Augmented Reality offers a fresh context for people who already know the content (i.e. history and Civil War buffs) and creates an exciting introduction for others - particularly families with digital natives who can help their parents with this new type of experience. In addition to the place-based opportunity for people visiting Gettysburg, we hope to also deliver an effective way for classrooms to use the app as well.